


ocean view

by Significant_What



Series: and the sun so loved the moon [3]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Dorks in Love, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, but hopeful, maybe a little sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 08:07:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13677672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Significant_What/pseuds/Significant_What
Summary: Nico likes to tell himself it’s all good. Truth is he’s a little terrified.





	ocean view

**Author's Note:**

> A little something-something for Valentine's Day! Not very long, not very fluffy, but something cute for you to read while you cry into your ice cream. No shame in that. I'm doing the same.

The night that Will officially decides to apply for college and leave camp is cold. It’s cold and it will probably rain at some point at least on the strawberry fields, and the winds suggest there’s some minor family feud going on up on Olympus that Nico is happy to know nothing about. But Nico puts on an extra jumper and makes Will wear that stupid dusty pink sweater he’s been wearing on and off since September, and they climb on the Hades cabin roof with a blanket.

The roof isn’t very comfortable to sit on, but they manage. They have done this so many times in the past few years that they don’t even really feel the cold hard tiles anymore. Nico looks out to where he can see water glittering in the moonlight, and Will takes his hand and breathes in the cold early winter air.

Nico likes telling himself that he’s okay with Will going to college. The issue has been on the table for months now, and they have been talking about it a lot, so the final desicion didn’t come as a surprise. Will’s biggest dream in life is to become a doctor, and sadly being a son of Apollo doesn’t make you qualified in mortal standards. Pretty much the only logical solution is for Will to eventually go to college, and that means leaving camp.

Yes, Nico likes to tell himself it’s all good. Truth is he’s a little terrified.

Will keeps assuring him that just because they won’t live in the same place anymore doesn’t mean they won’t be happy or that they can’t make teir relationship work. And in theory, Nico knows this. He knows what the end of the world looks like, and Will moving away isn’t that. Being apart is only temporary, they’ve agreed, and it’ll be over quicker than they thought.

And yet.

And yet Nico squeezes his hand around Will’s and tells himself he’s happy for Will. Because he is. He _is_. It’s not often enough that demigods get to live normal lives. If someone deserves a chance at that, Nico thinks, it’s Will.

”A cat”, Nico says lowly to the quiet around them and watches a plane fly over them. If he squints, he can pretend it’s a shooting star.

This is a game they play. It started one night over a year ago when Nico woke up to Will having a nightmare. They started listing things they want in their future apartment – first _apartments_ , in plural, but lately it’s just been that one apartment and it feels even better. Sometimes the things are insignificant and small; Nico will pass Will on his way to the stables and blurt out _a rice cooker_ and Will’ll smile and throw back _floor to ceiling windows_. They once spent an hour debating over Xbox and PlayStation.

But sometimes it’s like tonight. _A cat_ , Nico says, and what he means is _life_. Not stillness and quiet, no empty corners and long silences. A cat, filling in the spaces between furniture and the silences between spoken words. Another living thing keeping them company when the other is away, so they never have to be alone if they don’t want to.

Nico feels Will rest his head on his shoulder, and leans his cheek in Will’s hair. It smells like the sun, even though it’s been cloudy for days. ”An ocean view.”

 _Space_. Nico smiles into Will’s hair. Most of his nightmares are still about being trapped in that gods forsaken jar, and when he wakes up it always takes him a few minutes to relearn how to breathe. Will knows this, because of course he does, and this is just another example of how well they know each other, how their lives have grown and twisted together in the three short years. The fact that Will knows Nico is going to need lots of open space makes Nico’s heart thump irregularly in his chest, a silly little thing that he has no words to describe. Will is the one with the words.

Maybe one day this all will be a reality. Maybe in a few years Nico can have it all, Will and the apartment and the ocean view. In the city, possibly, or perhaps in the new little town inside camp that Annabeth has been talking about lately. Maybe some day in the future Nico doesn’t have to worry about the distance between himself and Will.

”Underfloor heating.” _Warmth_. Maybe Nico could apply to college, too. He’s been doing a lot of photography lately; there’s got to be some place where he can do that and Will can study medicine, so that they can be together.

Nico lets himself imagine it. Watching the sun come up on the balcony, seeing it glitter on the mass of water a little ways away. Will would try to make breakfast, fail miserably, and eventually beg for Nico to fix whatever he can. They’d both go to class, and maybe meet for lunch, but then they’d always come home in the evening, tired and dragging their feet and collapsing on the couch in a big pile of limbs. Will would be exhausted, because of course he would take on one too many responsibilities, but maybe Nico could be cheesy and buy him flowers to cheer him up. And in the night they could fall asleep together, without having to worry about Chiron catching Will sneaking into the Hades cabin or one of the other Apollo kids ratting them out.

It’s a nice thought. Nico finds himself smiling as Will nuzzles his shoulder and plays with his fingers. The fact that Will is going away by the end of next summer isn’t half as scary anymore now that he’s made himself look beyond it.

Will presses a soft kiss on Nico’s shoulder, where the collar of his jumper has ridden low and his skin is exposed to the night air.

”You”, says Will. _Us_ , is what Nico hears.


End file.
